stgulik

I keep thinking I will have more brain to post about stuff but it keeps not happening, even with 2 weeks of vacation (back to work on Monday *sob*), so here are some brief thoughts about a variety of things:

- Miami Mika!!! Hopefully he is also Milano-Cortina Mika because after the bullshit snub of Jason Robertson by Team USA (in favor of JT Miller??? REALLY??? I've watched him play - badly (he's injured) - all season so idk what Bill Guerin is thinking there [I can see a role for Trocheck, who seems like a slightly less egregious choice to me than Miller, but still pretty bad, and I like Trocheck), I am in the bag for Sweden (or Finland) and hope Team USA doesn't even make the medal round.

- Speaking of hockey, I finally watched Heated Rivalry and I enjoyed it. I laughed, I cried a little, I predicted many lines of dialogue because I have written similar fic, and I'm probably one of the few people who wished for more hockey in the gay hockey show. I don't feel feral about it like most of fandom, but I kind of didn't expect to. It was lovely, though, and I'm glad it exists. Also, Connor Storrie needs to play Alexander the Great in something, or, since I texted devildoll immediately with that thought and she replied, "Achilles," he should definitely play Achilles in something. I am just saying. I would like to see ( minor spoiler )

- The Stranger Things finale. Without spoilers, I liked it. I have quibbles but overall I found it emotionally satisfying. Also, while I appreciate Joe Keery and love Steve Harrington's arc, I have never found him particularly hot, per se, but ( spoilers )

- I'm enjoying season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I love Percy as a character and narrator, and I just enjoy spending time with him and his friends. ( spoilers )

- The Muppet Show returns!!! This is not a drill!!! I AM EXCITE!!!

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The first lines of each month meme, 2025 edition:

( 2025 first lines from each month )
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Christmas was lovely! On Christmas Eve, it was just me, my sister, and my brother-in-law, so we ordered in and watched a godawful Hallmark Christmas movie with Teri Hatcher in it. Then they went to bed and I did a Die Hard rewatch - I hadn't seen it in some number of years and for all its flaws, it is still a good time.

Christmas morning, my niece and her husband came over so Baby Miss L could unwrap the first set of presents - she still gets bored with it and wants to play with whatever she's opened instead of opening the next gift, so it's a process - and she LOVED the 30 second dance party button, as I knew she would. I am SO HAPPY I saw it somewhere (Wirecutter, maybe?) and ordered it, and that it arrived in time for me to see her play with it. (The adults got a kick out of it too, but it was hilarious watching her run up and press it each time it ended.) She liked the dinosaur cape and the books (especially "The Little Book of Cheese," which is in the same series as "The Little Book of Pasta," which I got for her last year and which she LOVES - apparently she will just bust out with "FARFALLE!" at any given moment), but did not care about the wings at all. Also when Alyssa told her I would be there, she said, "books!" so she knows I am the books and clothes aunt. *g*

The while elephant swap was pretty hilarious too, and my niece Nicki ended up with the cat-shaped measuring cups and spoons that were my contribution. I got a waterproof bluetooth speaker I'm going to have to set up in the bathroom to have tunes in the shower.

The funfetti cupcakes were a big hit. (I made sure to put cream cheese frosting on the ones for my sister; she tried one with the American buttercream and made the same face I made when I tasted it - it's disgustingly sweet.) There's picture of this year's selection here.

As for gifts, I received a handful of gift cards, a KRYPTO squishmallow from Baby Miss L, a pair of earrings made from chips of vintage pyrex, a stand mixer tree ornament, a copy of Dorrie's Anytime Cakes, some candles, and a pair of super warm and fuzzy grippy socks. I also bought myself a new winter coat, a new 9 x 13" pyrex baking dish, a new vibrator, some new bras, and a new pair of black ankle boots, so I'm doing all right in the gift department. *g*

Yesterday, I got home early and vegged out for most of the day. And then it snowed, just like they said it would!

Today, I made a new batch of dough and tomorrow I'll finish baking off the fig cookies for this year. I also want to try those orange cranberry rolls now that I have room in the fridge to let them rise overnight. I still have so many eggs left over, though, so I see at least one frittata in my future, plus at least one batch of Nadiya's egg wraps, which are delicious and I recommend them highly!

Now I should look into having dinner and maybe watching the Rangers game.

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I just cleaned off the kitchen counter and put the last bowl/spatulas in the sink to soak (the dishwasher is already running, and all the cupcakes are cooked and 4 out of 5 frostings are made (I just finished the strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream) - tomorrow I will make the ganache and possibly also a whipped ganache (I've never done it with butter in it - does that make it more buttercream-ish?) just to change things up a bit.

Today, I baked the strawberry (doubled to make 80), apple cider (60), and funfetti (doubled to make 80) cupcakes - there could have been more funfetti, but not enough to fill a whole pan, so I didn't bother. I added cinnamon bits from King Arthur to the apple cider ones and dipped them in maple cinnamon sugar, which is a change, one that hopefully people will like.

I also discovered that the cupcake carriers I've had sitting in a box under a chair in my living room for a few months are the wrong size (they are for standard-sized cupcakes) so I only have 10 mini ones and I need 13, so I will use the some foil lasagna pans for my brother and sister and one of the kids - they'll get a few more cupcakes out of it, since the carriers hold 2 dozen but the 9 x 13" tray fits about 30. *hands* I'm just glad I still have a pack of them left to use; otherwise, I'd have been up a creek.

Tomorrow is Pipe-a-palooza 7: The Pipening! (yeah, it's kind of shocking to me I've been doing cupcakes for 7 years now - I started in 2019 - but I like it more than the chocolates [and it's also less time-consuming than the chocolates were] and I can't do ice creams anymore due to logistics, though they remain my all-time favorite of the homemade Christmas gifts I've done over the years.) Wish me luck! It's always the hardest part for me. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures to share afterwards.

Whoops, I started this entry an hour ago and got distracted by stuff like packing my overnight bag and refilling my water bottle etc. so I'm just gonna hit post now and work up the energy to go wash my hair.

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( 6-day plan, day 5 )

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